Category: Swiss-German and Mennonite Immigrants to Pennsylvania
Categories: Mennonites | 17th Century American Immigration | Pennsylvania History
First Immigrants to William Penn's Pennsylvania ca.1686 through the 18th century
This is a sub-project for early settlers from Switzerland and Germany (a large portion of whom were Mennonites) who settled on land owned by William Penn. Profiles listed below include only the first immigrant to Pennsylvania. Descendants who were born in the "New World" are not listed to preserve space and keep the distinction of the primary immigrant profiles.
Seeking freedom from decades of religious persecution in Switzerland and Germany, entire communities of Mennonites emigrated to Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Lancaster County
For additional resources, including a list of settlers from 1709-1719, got to the Free-space profile: First Settlers in Lancaster
"THE earliest white settlements within the territory now embraced in the county of Lancaster were made by people called (on account of their religious belief) Mennonites, who had emigrated to America from Switzerland and the Palatinate [in Germany]. The first of these who settled here came in 1709, and they were followed in the next and succeeding years by others of the same people. They were not only the first, but were also more numerous than any other class of the pioneer settlers in this region. Their earliest settlements were made along Little Beaver Creek, and where the city of Lancaster now stands, from which localities they afterwards spread over other parts of the county." [Ellis, Frank and Samuel Evans, "History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men," Everts & Peck, Philadelphia, 1833, p.19]
Lancaster County "Pioneer" Settlers of 1711 (arriving 1710 on the Maria Hope) and Initial 1709 Warrant of 10,000 acres issued to: [Friesen, Steve, "A Modest Mennonite Home: The Story of the 1719 Hans Herr House, an Early Colonial Landmark," Good Books, Intercourse, PA, 1990, ISBN 0-934672-90-3]
- Hans (John) Herr (Hans, Sr. or his son Hans?)
- Christian Herr (son of Hans, Sr.)
- Martin Kendig (Hans Sr.'s brother-in-law?)
- Jacob Miller
- Martin Oberholtzer*
- John (Heinrich?) Funck (confirm?)
- Hans Gräff (confirm?)
- Wendel Bauman (confirm?)
- Micael Oberholtzer* (son of Martin)
- John Bundeli* (land agent)
these men * dropped out of the purchase
Two others were added later to the actual deed issued 1711:
- Martin Meilin (confirm?)
- Christopher Franciscus
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